Pulis returns fire on Wenger

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has released a strongly-worded statement responding to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's criticism of his side's tactics in the 2-1 weekend victory.

Wenger had suggested that some of Pulis' players had deliberately set out to injure his stars, an insinuation that has clearly upset the Potters boss.

His statement read: "Most managers up and down the country are very protective of their football clubs and that protection is usually at its height in after-game interviews, where we defend our team's performances and our players' mistakes in every way possible.

"In Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday evening, Mr Wenger talked openly about Arsenal's encounter with Stoke, as being a 'typical English encounter'.

"He commended my team's organisation, my team's commitment and confessed that, on the day, Stoke City thoroughly deserved to win the game. Very open and very honest.

"In London, 48 hours later and 150 miles away from Stoke-on-Trent, Mr Wenger changed tack and has tried to rewrite history.

"Remember, there was only one red card on Saturday and the last time I watched the game it certainly was not a Stoke City player who received it.

"As for Rory Delap's challenges on Walcott and Sanga, Rory is as honest and committed as they come, they were free-kicks, but Rory would never purposely go out to injure a fellow professional, it's just not in his nature.

"Further, as I recall the game, Emmanuel Adebayor was booked for a chest-high challenge on Ryan Shawcross.

"I and my football club have tremendous respect for Mr Wenger and Arsenal football club, but as Mr Wenger is such a learned professional and on a great day in American electoral history, I would like to remind him of Lincoln's great quotation.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."